Stocks to Watch: Barnes & Noble, Lowe's

NEW YORK -- Barnes & Noble ( BKS) Chairman Leonard Riggio has expressed interest in buying out the company's consumer-bookstore chain, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Riggio is Barnes & Noble's biggest shareholder and his interest, though so far tentative, raises the prospect that the company could be split in two, the Journal noted. It would mean that Barnes & Noble's retail stores would be taken private, and be separated from the company's college-store chain and its Nook business, the Journal said.

Riggio could make a formal announcement this week, one of the people told the newspaper.

Google's ( GOOG) Android unit has been negotiating with music companies to start a paid subscription music-streaming service similar to Spotify AB, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.